JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Student drop-off and pickup could look different in the future at Mandarin Middle School after traffic and safety concerns from parents sparked a conversation Thursday night with a transportation planner with the North Florida Transportation Planning Organization.
The North Florida TPO, an independent regional transportation planning agency for Duval, Clay, Nassau and St. Johns counties, is working hand-in-hand with the Florida Department of Transportation’s Safe Routes to School program, a state initiative designed to make walking and biking to school safer for students in kindergarten through 12th grade.
Thalia Fuste, a transportation planner with North Florida TPO, said the organization is considering solutions like crosswalks, speed reduction and encouraging more students to walk or bike to school.
Although that last one might be a tough sell for the school’s parents.
Walking to school
A Mandarin Middle Travel Safety Survey found that nearly three-quarters (71%) of those who responded would not be comfortable with their child walking or biking to school on their own without an adult.
Only 5% said they would definitely be OK with it, while another 21% admitted they were on the fence.
Transportation planners hope to change how parents feel about the issue, but in the meantime, another big concern is e-bikes, with many recent stories involving young kids and fatal e-bike crashes.
“We might look at having bike and walk to school days to promote a safe way of getting to school. We also are looking at updated education around e-bikes in our schools, and additionally any safe crossings that we can do for kids that are walking and biking there,” said Fuste.
Traffic trouble
The two main roads of concern that intersect at the school are Hood Road and Hornets Nest Road.
“When you’re out here earlier, you’ve got four different cars going four different directions at the same time on the same road,” parent Amy Shapiro said. “Everybody just has to be patient and try to read everyone else’s mind and see what they’re doing.”
Those issues, according to the North Florida TPO presentation on Thursday, led to 30 crashes over a five-year period from 2021-2026, with 14 happening during arrival and dismissal, along with two bike crashes.
Neighbors have also raised concerns about coming in and out of their neighborhoods, and one of them said that things can get difficult when the weather gets worse.
“Drivers can be courteous enough to keep that driveway open or let homeowners in, as well as those that need to come out,” one neighbor said. “It’s usually a, I’d say, a 30-minute, maybe 40-minute window. And it’s worse if it’s raining.”
Fuste detailed some of the potential solutions to the area’s traffic and safety woes.
On Hood Road, a reduced-speed school zone could be added, along with raised medians closer to the school, a pedestrian detector station, and signal improvement at the traffic light at the intersection, such as a flashing yellow arrow.
On Hornets Nest, North Florida TPO suggested adding flexible delineators on lane lines, a midblock crosswalk, and another raised median with landscaping and centerline hardening.
“Potentially, the city of Jacksonville can look at adding a school zone that would reduce speeds right outside of the school, that would look at 15 mph or so,” Fuste said. “It would have flashers before school starts and after, during arrival and pickup.”
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